Wednesday during an interview with Fox News Channel’s Neil Cavuto, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) reacted to Democrat-led hysteria over a President Donald Trump tweet and Department of Justice action regarding Roger Stone.
Thune said the Democrats were looking for something to attack the president on, but given the economy’s strength and Trump electoral success, Democrats are “frustrated.”
“I think the Democrats are you’re always looking for something to pounce on with the president,” he said. “But it’s really hard for them. And I’m sure they’re frustrated, because — for all the reasons you just mentioned. When you have got — you have seen now 23 consecutive months where the unemployment rate has been at or below 4%. We have had 18 straight months now where year-over-year wage growth is above 3%. Since the president was elected, there have been seven million jobs created. So the economy is humming.
“And it’s a lot to do with the policies that the president, working with Republicans in Congress, have put in place,” Thune continued. “And that’s tax reform and regulatory policies and energy policy, trade policy. And we want to build on that foundation, and so does the president. But the Democrats, at least for the moment, seem like they haven’t given up on the attacks. We just came through an impeachment process where, in a very partisan way, they — they send impeachment articles over to the Senate, where we heard the case and concluded that they hadn’t made the case. And so we acquitted the president. But that’s not going to stop the attacks from the Democrats. And that’s pretty clear from the most recent round.”
The South Dakota Republican predicted should Trump continue with his successes, he will win in a “landslide” regardless of Democrat complaints.
“I think that the president has a terrific record to run on,” Thune said. “And I believe, when he runs on it, and when he communicates that to the American people, he’s going to have a very compelling — compelling narrative about why he ought to be given a second four-year term. I do think it’s important for him to talk about that, sometimes not to dwell on other things. And, obviously, he has taken — and I think anybody would — many of the unfair attacks that have been made against him personally. But I think the best thing for him to do is to rise above that and to just keep moving America forward and continue to put policies in place that are going to improve the lives, the everyday lives of Americans in this country.”
“If he does that, he’s going to win in a landslide,” he added. “And that’s what I hope he would — he would pivot and do, particularly coming out of this most recent impeachment process, which, again, I think the American people were very frustrated by, which is why the president has enjoyed the numbers that he has. Certainly, from a political standpoint, it has been a winner for him, but it’s a loser for the American people when their leaders are distracted with something like what we went through here with impeachment. And I think they’re ready to turn the page and move forward. And I hope that the president and Republicans in Congress, and hopefully some Democrats, will work with us to get some good things done for this country.”
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